1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a front end structure of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a general front end structure. A front end panel 10, to which parts such as a radiator 20 and a condenser 30, to be mounted at the front end of a vehicle, are fixed, is fixed together with a bumper reinforcement 60 to a vehicle body at the top ends of side members 50 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle at the side of the vehicle by using fixing means such as bolts.
However, in the structure shown in FIG. 4, there is a strong possibility that the fixing parts of the front end panel 10 fixed and sandwiched between the side members 50 and the bumper reinforcement 60 will be broken and damaged, because an impact force exerted to the bumper reinforcement 60 in a collision is transferred to the side members 50 and the impact force is absorbed by the deformation of the bumper reinforcement 60 as well as the side members 50.
Contrary to this, in the invention disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 10-264856, a front end panel is fixed to side members behind the top ends thereof via brackets, which are parts distinct from the front end panel.
Moreover, as the bracket is provided with a notch so as to easily break, there is a strong possibility that the bracket will be broken, even though the front end panel is not broken, resulting in an increase in the repair costs for the front end panel.
The above-mentioned problems being taken into account, the objective of the present invention is to prevent the front end panel from being seriously damaged by impact forces produced in collision while preventing increases in both the number of parts and the man-hours required in assembling the front end structure and an increase in the repair costs for the front end panel.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, the first aspect of the present invention relates to a front end structure, of a vehicle, which comprises a front end panel (10) having an integrated radiator (20) and being fixed to a vehicle body at the front end of the vehicle; wherein the front end panel (10) is fixed to the vehicle body behind crushable zones (51) that will preferentially crush before other parts when an impact force not less than a fixed value is applied to the vehicle body.
Due to this structure, it is possible to prevent the front end panel (10) from being seriously damaged by impact forces produced in collision because most of the impact forces are absorbed by the deformation of the crushable zones (51) and large impact forces are not transferred to the front end panel (10). Moreover, as it is possible to prevent the state, as shown in the above-mentioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 10-264856, that the fixing parts of the front end panel fixed to the body are damaged an increase in the repair costs for the front end panel can be prevented.
The second aspect of the present invention relates to a front end structure of a vehicle, which comprises a front end panel (10) having an integrated radiator (20) and fixed to a vehicle body at the front end of the vehicle; wherein the front end panel (10) is fixed to side members (50) behind crushable zones (51) that will preferentially crush before other parts when an impact force not less than a fixed value is applied to the side members (50) extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
Due to this structure, it is possible to prevent the front end panel (10) from being seriously damaged by impact forces produced in collision while preventing increases in both the number of parts and man-hours required in assembling the front end structure and an increase in the repair costs for the front end panel, because: most of the impact forces are absorbed by the deformation of the crushable zones (51); large impact forces are not transferred to the front end panel (10); and brackets, which are additional parts, can be discarded and, as a matter of course, notches to be provided to the brackets can be dispensed with.
In the third aspect of the present invention, the front end panel (10) is fixed to the side members (50) at upper surfaces (50a), which are substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
Due to this structure, it is possible to prevent the front end panel (10) from being damaged because the force, among the impact forces applying to the front end panel (10), which is applied perpendicularly to the front end panel (10) can be decreased.
The symbols within the brackets attached to components mentioned above show an example of the relationship of correspondence with concrete components in embodiments that will be described later.
The present invention may be more fully understood from the description of the preferred embodiments of the invention set forth below, together with the accompanying drawings.